I left out a point which I found meaningful during the last CO's talk. He mentioned about experience. He said we should not always rely on experience, for the past experience may not apply now. Why? Different scenarios, different people and many other variables. Add in a word and all seems clearer. The word is "relevant". Relevant experience.

We often hear our seniors saying, "From what I know...", "According to my previous experience...", etc. We oftn have no choice but to concede if they use "experience" to disagree with our opinions. I believe that most of you out there have this strong desire like me to rebutt but just can't seem to find the approiate words to use. Allow me. Just say, "Yes, you have the experience but we're dealing with entirely different scenarios now. Your past experience is of uselss/low/no relevance to our situation now." Neat, huh?

Relevancy is of utmost important. We must always strive to keep up with times or suffer the consequences. People often like to brag about their experiences but they overlook the relevancy. Things change and as I read, "The only constant thing is change." I think CO has a lot of insights and it would be greatly beneficial for me if I get the chance to have a proper, outside-work conversation with him. Then again, he has some bad mannerisms that make him somewhat a less apt communicator.

After going through business presentation skills package, I realised that I'm getting more acute and sensitive to others non-verbal cues. It is often such cues that convey the intended message. CO tend to put both his hands on his hips when he talks while standing, projecting an overpowering image. Of course, he is the big boss of the battalion, it is natural for him to behave in such a manner. However, when he tries to talk nicely while adopting such a position, it makes him looks as if his words and actions contradict. Since actions speaks louder than words, I suppose he is often perceived as one who tries to impose his opinion onto someone. Furthermore, this position overwhelms the opther party so much that s/he may feel compelled to remain silent or go into panic mode. Add this to his designation in the battalion, there is little wonder why we all like him but yet try not to go near him at the same time.

Personally, I feel that hands-on-hips is not a very professional nor good position to adopt. Maybe if he can use both hands to gesture. Ah... This brings me to another point. If both of hands are not on the hips, the right hand will sure be making wild gestures while the left remains firmly planted on the hip. It's a sub-conscious thing. I doubt he notices it himself too. Ok, I'm not all that perfect. I tend to stutter and speak at a much faster when nervous. I'll analyse S3 in the next post. Haha~

Finally ran the 7km cross country run today. Towards the end of the run, I suffered painful stiches. It was never so intense before. Perhaps I was pushing myself too far. I could hardly stand up straight after the run. It took me some 15min to recover from the piercing pain. I nearly beat S1 to the finishing line. He overtook me once and I overtook him in return. This happened one more time as we neared the finishing line. The pain was killing me but all I though was, "Damn! He ran 5km but still manage to catch up with you. No! I won't lose to an old man who started 10 min later than me and ran 5km." I was really running on empty, or rather, force of will. Just about 30m before the finishing line, I succumbed to the pain. However, it sure felt good when I sprinted past him (and two other guys), while my diaphragm was wracked with pain. On hindsight, I might not have beat him even if I kept running, as my speed and pace was decreasing with each step I take.